


Now is the Start

by lowermiddlechild



Series: knight and day [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fantasy, Friendship, Knights - Freeform, Knights in Training, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 10:44:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9604523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowermiddlechild/pseuds/lowermiddlechild
Summary: Shirabu has finally come to the palace to begin his training as a knight. He's aiming for fame and fortune but he might just get something else along the way: friendship





	

**Author's Note:**

> The summary is straight cheese, i know, this is who i am as a person.
> 
> This is for day 1 of ushishira week and is set vaguely in tortall, a fictional country created by tamora pierce. look up the books if you can, they're super good. But also you dont have to have read them to enjoy and understand this series! enjoy~

Shirabu stood in the middle of his new room, trying to school his face into the calm mask that would get him through the next 8 years of his life.The royal palace was much larger than he’d thought it would be and compared to the small mountain town he’d come from, everything seemed more ornate than it ought to be. He scowled down at the tunic he was wearing over his shirt and breeches, the gold stitching and bright colors making it impossible for him to forget it was there. 

He took a breath and tried to remind himself why he was there: fame and glory. Plain and simple he wanted to be the absolute best knight he possibly could; he wanted to be known around the world for his heroic acts and incredible feats. He just had to get through four years as a page and then another four as a squire and if that meant wearing a frankly, ostentatious tunic then so be it.

Another look around the small room, empty of any personal effects other than his bags, shoved under the bed, and he felt his nerves steady. He was ready. A knock on his door told him that the other boys were assembling for dinner and Shirabu turned on his heel and opened the door leading out into the hall. He stood in front of his closed door, careful not to let his eyes stray to anyone else in the hall. He knew the others were waiting in front of their doors as well, little whispers told him that they’d noticed the new boy in their midst, but he didn’t want to drop his stone cold face just yet.

“Real strength is in never giving away your cards,” his father had told him before he’d left home and Shirabu’s father knew what he was talking about. 

Slow deliberate footsteps echoed down the hall and Shirabu slid his eyes over to look at Lord General Washijo as he made his way past each boy, barking out things they needed to fix or do. 

“Tendou, tuck in that shirt corner! Kawanishi, stand straight for once in your life!” His voice echoed down the hallway and Shirabu stood just a little straighter as the older man came nearer.

“And who do we have here?” Washijo asked, coming to a stop in front of him. 

“Shirabu Kenijiro, sir,” Shirabu replied. He stood as still as he could, trying to seem unaffected as Washijo looked him up and down. 

“Hmph,” the old man snorted before turning to the other boys who had followed him after he finished inspecting him. Belateedly Shirabu realized that they’d expected him to stop in front of him. Washijo raised his eyebrow before calling out, “Alright, which of you numbskulls will be his sponsor?”

There was a beat of silence and then a boy with spiked red hair called out, “Semi would love to do it, sir!” He chuckled as another boy with light hair and angry eyebrows cuffed him over the head.

Washijo glared at the two of them and they seemed to remember their place, standing up straight once again, though Semi still had a scowl on his face. Shirabu wondered if it was really such a pain to sponsor a new boy and reminded himself that it didn’t matter. He wasn’t there to make friends, he was there to become a knight. Besides, if it were up to him he’d go through this entire process alone.

“Well, unfortunately for Semi, he’s still on probation for breaking into the kitchens last week and has extra duties during break,” Washijo said, and Semi seemed to shrink a little under his gaze. “However, you, Tendou are clearly a model student and will be an excellent role model for young Shirabu. You’ll be his sponsor.” He turned back to Shirabu. “That was sarcasm. Don’t let him rub off on you.” With that the Lord General marched down the hallway, leaving the boys alone. The boy he’d called Tendou came over to Shirabu, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

“Well my young apprentice looks like you’re with me,” Tendou said with a grin. Shirabu gave him the most dead eyed stare the 11 year old could muster. Tendou just laughed. “I think we’re going to get along famously. Follow me, kid.” 

It didn’t take long for Shirabu to figure out why they’d given him a sponsor: the palace was a literal maze and even though he’d thought he knew how to fight, the reality of a knight’s training was completely different from what he’d imagined. Tendou took him around to all of his classes, whispering helpful hints, inviting him to study even though he turned him down, and playing small pranks on him that had the older boys rolling on the ground laughing. At first Shirabu didn’t appreciate being given exploding ink and weighted training gear but the night he confronted Tendou about the pranks the older boy had said something that made Shirabu rethink a few things.

“Knights that run off alone are rare and honestly, useless,” the older boy had told him frankly. “In order to make it through all of this you have to make friends. Knights are social creatures after all. So break the ice off of your face and laugh along with the jokes. Make people like you , Shirabu.” That night Shirabu had sat in his room, nursing his wounded pride and many bruises and written a letter to his father that he’d never send. The next day he decided to take Tendou up on his offer to study together.

“Well, well, well, look who’s listening to their upperclassmen,” Tendou said with a smirk and Shirabu resisted the urge to roll his eyes, letting Tendou continue, “Come over to my room tonight around the eighth bell. We all work together.” Just then a bell tolled over head and Shirabu jumped, hurrying away in an attempt to get to his mathematics class on time. He made it just in time for the professor to finish taking role and was promptly given extra problems as punishment. Well, at least he now he had a study group to help him work on them.

That night as he approached Tendou’s door he heard laughter and was sorely tempted to turn around and plow his way through his math problems on his own. The room was probably full of people he didn’t know and didn’t want to know. He was just about to turn around when another boy came up next to him.

“Shirabu, right?” the boy said, voice deep even though he only looked to be a couple of years older than Shirabu. “Ushijima Wakatoshi. Tendou told me you would joining us tonight and I’ve heard that you’re excellent at literature reviews. Would you mind working with me on one? I’ve been told I’m very helpful with mathematics if you’d like help in return.” Shirabu’s eyes went wide. Ushijima Wakatoshi. The crown prince was talking to him. The crown prince wanted his help with literature homework. Shirabu stood there blinking at him while Ushijima looked down at him kindly. Apparently he was used to this kind of behavior. 

“Right, yes, I can, I can definitely help you,” Shirabu said once he’d found his voice again. 

“Good,” Ushijima said grasping the door handle and opening the door. There was a shout of welcome when he went inside, Shirabu at his heels.

“Wakatoshi, get in here, I’m stuck on this geometry question!” Tendou shouted, volume much higher than it needed to be. Shirabu stepped out from behind Ushijima, cringing at Tendou’s voice. “Oho! Shirabu, you made it,” Tendou called out when he saw him. He looked back and forth between Shirabu and Ushijima and his smile became a little more impish. “I see you’ve met Ushijima.”

Shirabu raised his eyebrow, putting what Tendou called his “ice face” on, “He asked me for help with literature.” Ushijima nodded and Tendou burst into laughter. Shirabu tried his best to keep from scowling but he failed miserably. Ah, well, it was worth the abuse if it meant he got to spend more time with the crown prince.

From that day on he was a regular in the study group. Besides him and Ushijima, Tendou’s study group included four other members: the sarcastic second year Kawanishi, and the two loud third years Semi and Yamagata, and a tall, quiet, third year page named Ohira. Nearly every night they would meet up in Tendou’s room and work together but Shirabu soon realized that the group wasn’t just for academic school work.

“Ugh,” Shirabu groans as he was slammed back down onto the mat. Kawanishi reached down to pull him, murmuring an apology but Shirabu shook his head. It was his third month of hand to hand combat lessons and he still couldn’t last longer than fifteen seconds during a practice fight. At least the first and second year pages had their combat lessons separate from the third and fourth years; he didn’t know if he could take Tendou making fun of him for this. He’d been spending his free hour for the past month practicing the moves their teacher had assigned them but he still felt as if he was doing them wrong. Shirabu had to force himself not to actually grind his teeth; if he did poorly in one of his academic classes, all he had to do was spend some extra time studying but with their combat classes, it felt like he was missing some large piece of the puzzle.

The bell tolled overhead, signalling the end of their class and Shirabu sighed as he watched his classmates file out of the classroom. Instead of going out with them to wash up before dinner, he walked over to the straw dummies set up along the back row of the room. He went through a series of strikes, practicing placement, speed, and strength, but he couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t helping.His strikes came out sloppy and misplaced, slowly at first but then faster as he became more agitated, until eventually he missed the bag entirely, falling forward with his momentum. Shirabu sat up onto his knees, blinking tears out of his eyes; knights didn’t cry.

“Ah, Shirabu. Tendou said I’d find you in here,” Ushijima said from the doorway. Shirabu closed his eyes, keeping his back to the door and not saying a word. Maybe if he didn’t say anything Ushijima would think he was sleeping or something. 

Not his best plan.

Instead he heard Ushijima come into the room and walk over so he was kneeling in front of Shirabu. “Kawanishi has told me that you’re having trouble in hand to hand combat.” 

Without opening his eyes Shirabu nodded.

“Well, come on, get up,” Ushijima commanded. Shirabu looked up in surprised to see a hand offered down to him. He took the hand and was pulled to his feet. Ushijima sank into a fighting stance with his fists raised. “Think of me as your combat tutor as well as your mathematics tutor.”

“But… but you’re the crown prince,” Shirabu said, shock making him more frank than normal.

Ushijima shrugged. “True, but I’m also your fellow page. And,” he paused, “I’d like to think I’m also your friend. Treat me the same way you would treat Tendou or Semi.” Shirabu tentatively raised his arms, trying to picture either of the other two boys helping him the way Ushijima was now. The crown prince looked him over with a critical eye before coming over and correcting a few things in Shirabu’s stance and then had the two of them run through a few drills and before long Shirabu had forgotten that the boy across from him was the crown prince. The hour passed faster than it ever had before and as the two boys jogged up the hill to the main part of the palace, Shirabu found himself feeling better about his fighting than he had since he’d first come to the palace.

Shirabu jogged just behind Ushijima, watching the other boy as stealthily as he could. He still wanted to go on great adventures, still wanted to find glory, but, he mused, maybe he could make a few friends along the way as well.


End file.
